How did the State of Israel come to be? How is it that an idea, introduced in 19th century Europe, became a reality? And how does that reality prevail in the harsh complexities of the Middle East?
Presented by Professor Eyal Naveh, with additional units from Professor Asher Sussers' "The Emergence of the Modern Middle East" course, This course will take you on a journey through the history of Modern Israel. In this 1st part of the course we will explore:
How did the 19th century idea of a Jewish state become a reality?
So the next time you hear about Israel in the news, you will be informed enough about the history of this area to comprehend the many sides and narratives that interact to shape the complex reality of Israel today.
Please also join us in the 2nd part of this course: Challenges of Israel as a sovereign state
* This course is a joint effort of Tel Aviv University & Israel Institute (www.israelinstitute.org)
* This course uses media material from various archives, courtesy to Yad Vashem Archive for their help.
* This course is self-paced. Once you register, you can participate in the course anytime, as often as you wish and over any stretch of time

From the lesson

WWII, the Holocaust, the end of the Mandate and the Establishment of Israel

This module will explore the most tragic event of the Twentieth century, namely the Second World War and the Holocaust. It will discuss the impact of this event on the Jewish Zionist society in Palestine. The module will continue by looking at the Zionist struggle against the British Mandate following the years of the war, the British decision to leave the area, the UN suggestion to create two states, one Jewish and one Arab, the failure of this project and the break of the war between Jews and Palestinians. We will analyze the declaration of independence and the creation of Israel as a sovereign state that had to fight for its existence and succeed to defend itself against an invasion of neighboring Arab states. It will explain the Palestinian catastrophe and the tragedy of Palestinian refugees.